Redlands Community Sports Hub opens new Astro turf football pitch

Redlands Community Sports Hub officially opened their new state of the art third generation Astro Turf football pitch on Saturday 3 September. Sue Moore, Principal of Weymouth College, cut the ribbon watched by local girls football teams who were playing a tournament later that day organised by Dorset FA.

 

Redlands Community Sports Hub officially opened their new state of the art third generation Astro Turf football pitch on Saturday 3 September. Sue Moore, Principal of Weymouth College, cut the ribbon watched by local girls football teams who were playing a tournament later that day organised by Dorset FA.

 

Sue Moore said: "It has now been three years since Weymouth College took over the running of Redlands. Our vision, with other key stakeholders is to create a sporting centre of excellence that the local community can be proud of."

 

As a major provider of sporting facilities Redlands plays a key role in the local sporting infrastructure for numerous teams and clubs of all ages. The new floodlit 3G AGP will provide local teams with an all weather training and playing solution in addition to an existing full size floodlit sand based AGP at the Sports Hub which is well used for both football and hockey throughout the year.

 

A new 3G AGP at the site will not only provide the local football community with a much needed modern highly‑specific football facility, it will also free up the sports hall and the sand based AGP. This will enable the facility to be more flexible in accommodating and developing a wide variety of other indoors sports including volleyball, basketball, badminton, roller hockey and gymnastics.

 

The new 3G AGP at the site will also provide three new Mini-Soccer pitches and allow for further development of that format of the sport to be played. A pitch will also address the high demand for local football, which is demonstrated by facilities at the College and the Sports Hub both being fully booked at peak periods. The backlog of fixtures that is created during winter due to inclement weather, especially on Sundays when there a particularly high level of local football demand, will also be alleviated with the new development.

 

Forecasts suggest that the new facility will be used by 1,844 people on a weekly basis, an increase of 78% on previous findings. The grant will also help support key partner clubs such as Weymouth FC, Portland United and Chickerell United FC to achieve and / or maintain Charter Standard status and increase the total number of community teams from 58 to 91.

 

The £700,175 project was funded with the help of a £80,175 grant from the Football Foundation. Funded by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government via Sport England, the Football Foundation is the nation's largest sports charity. Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 8,000 grants worth more than £420m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £520m.

 

An additional grant of £200,000 came from The FA, as part of their capital allocation within the Whole Sport Plan agreed with Sport England. This specific aspect of funding has been awarded to support the sustainability of community clubs and create more opportunities to participate in sport within a high quality environment.

 

Other funding partners include a £20,000 grant from Dorset County Council and a contribution from Weymouth College who are leading the project.

 

Ben Heath, Sports Development Officer at Weymouth College, said: "Having a new high quality 3G pitch will mean a great deal to local footballers, but it will also allow us to free up some valuable indoor space over the winter and develop other sports. This will mean a wide range of people will benefit from this facility and the grants from the Football Foundation, FA, DCC and commitment from Weymouth College to secure the new facility."

 

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation said: "We are delighted that Weymouth College and the local community will have access to these fantastic new facilities and commend the club and the Dorset County FA for their hard work in making this happen."

 

"Since its launch in July 2000, the Foundation and the Dorset County FA have supported 129 projects worth £4.5m, with money provided by the Foundation's funding partners – The FA, the Premier League and the Government."

 

"This is the latest example of thousands of projects across the country that the Football Foundation is supporting with money provided by our funding partners the Premier League, The FA and Government."

 

The Dorset FA organised the pre-season girls league "Super Cup" tournament to help get the teams warmed up and ready for the new season.  Dorchester Magpies, Dorchester Raiders, Lytchett Red Triangle, Southside Angels, Weysports United and Weysports Vixens all competed for the under 13 Cup whilst in the under 18's Poole Town FC Wessex and Weysports United played for the title.  There are over 30 girls teams playing football throughout Dorset this season; for more information about how to join a girls football team in the local area please contact Clare Nichols, Women and Girls Football Development Officer, 01202 688280, clare.nichols@dorsetfa.com .